


To Be Honest

by greerian



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 16:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4487178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerian/pseuds/greerian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin really has no clue what 'tbh' means, and since it's part of his soulmate tattoo, that might be a little problematic. Inspired by tumblr user vinkusprincefiyero. Edited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Honest

Kevin likes to think of himself as a nice guy, because while all Mormons are nice, he’s really a step above everyone else in just about every department. Not that he’s bragging or anything; he’s just a really nice guy. When his soulmate tattoo shows up, at age 12, the words “Someone should take one for the team and pay attention to me tbh please” make him grin. He knows he’ll be the one who pays attention to his soulmate, he'll be the one who's nice to her, even if he has no clue what ‘tbh’ means.

It’s only after wild years in which he may or may not have gotten himself kicked out of the Mormon church, and there may or may not have been a lot of coffee and made up scriptures involved, that he learns what ‘tbh’ means. The realization comes with a google search, in which Urban Dictionary oh-so-kindly informs him that he’s probably going to meet his soulmate over the internet. And that ‘tbh’ means ‘to be honest’, but that part doesn’t really matter. From that moment on Kevin Price starts spending a ridiculous amount of time on social media, where the phrase is used most often. He wants to find his soulmate, and he wants her _as soon as frickin' possible_ because his world is very, very quickly falling apart and at the end of the day, the only things he's got are a best friend who lives on the other side of the world with shoddy internet (because _of course_ Arnold stayed in Uganda), his parents grudging toleration of him staying in his old bedroom, and the soulmate tattoos running up his arm and down his leg. He's got nothing to live for except those tattoos and what they mean, so he pours everything he's got left into exploring the world he's never been allowed to touch. It doesn’t even turn out to be a huge waste of time, in the end, because he finally gets to see what’s out there in the world without the lense of the church or of the abject poverty and isolation he found on his mission to Uganda. He starts to realize that nobody else really cares what you look like or who you’re attracted to or the sort of stuff you’re interested in, not online, and it’s new and incredible and refreshingly, dangerously, freeing.

A short time after he joins tumblr, Kevin decides that for the first time in his life he’s going to give in, to let himself be an asshole. For a miserable few months, he does just that. He sends anon hate, and ignores cries for help, and asks _what does anything really matter if they’re all going to die anyway?_  It hurts, at first, but each time gets easier until he finds himself typing out "Go kill yourself" in someone's inbox. They posted something asking for it, so why not just give them the little push they need? It's not like anybody really cares. He types it; he clicks send, and then he looks up at the full-length mirror hung on his wall. He's hunched over in front of his laptop, eyes bloodshot and underlined with dark shadows; his hair is tangled and greasy, and it strikes him that he hasn't showered or been outside in two days. And... he finds he doesn't care. That's the part that shocks him, that makes him sit up and study his own reflection with a panicked frown. Kevin Price _always_ cares, even if he shouldn't or it's none of his business. He isn't apathetic, he isn't an asshole, and he cares about things. What on earth is he doing?

So, he stops. He takes a break from tumblr, from instagram and from twitter and even from Facebook. He works hard on getting his life back in order, and even when he doesn't want to get out of bed or he wants to flip off the guy driving like a maniac on a _freaking_ Sunday morning, he fights it. He gets accepted to a decent college, even though it's not BYU. And once he face himself in the mirror again, he goes back online. He creates a positivity blog, and posts a general public apology for the victims he can’t find to say sorry to privately, or the ones who are gone forever, and he becomes a nice guy again. And it turns out that a lot of people would rather hear him post about his dreams of healing the world than hear him talk about how terrible human beings in general are and how he’ll beat them all one day.

Kevin’s unashamed to admit that he still thrives on positive attention, and, added to the fact that being nice actually feels good and comfortable and _familiar_ in a way he'd never thought he'd like,he decides that he’s going to be the nicest person in his little corner of the internet, and he can almost forget about his soulmate.

*****

It's about a year later, sophomore year just beginning, when, as he idly scrolls through the colorful posts on his dash, he sees a small, two-lined personal post from one of the smaller blogs he follows, a musical theatre themed one. “Someone should take one for the team and pay attention to me tbh please,” it says, and he’s tapped the ask icon and has a cute little “Hi there!” typed out in response before he realizes exactly what he’s about to do.

He freezes for a good ten seconds, staring down at his phone. There is a chance that it could be a fluke, or that it’s not the right person, or that there’s a little typo that he hasn’t noticed yet that would make saying “Omg I think you’re my soulmate???” incredibly awkward, but then again, as he looks at him forearm to confirm, the words there look identical. Except for the font. Maybe the font on the blog is different?

But he makes himself send the ask just as it is, because, really, even if this person isn’t his soulmate, he still wants to be nice, and he does care that she's reaching out and he does want to help. He's Kevin Price, and he wants to do the right thing. He takes a deep breath, resting his head in his hands for just a moment, trying to calm himself just a little because he treated himself to an extra cup of coffee today and with this lovely little surprise his heart probably thinks he’s trying to kill it. Out of the corner of his eye he sees his phone light up, though, and he reaches for it with trembling hands. It’s only been a few seconds, so he really shouldn’t get his hopes up, but sure enough, it’s adorableatrocityy replying to his ask, and he’s tapped the message without a moment’s hesitation. Before looking at it, though, he sends a quick prayer to the Heavenly Father he’s no longer sure he believes in: _Please let it be her._

“Omg hi thank you you’re so sweet hi” is the enthusiastic response and as soon as he sees it he grins from ear to ear. That's the other line to his soulmate tattoo, crawling up the back of his calf, and now he knows for _sure_.

“:D Okay, thank you,” he types, having to rewrite the same word three times due to his nervousness and clumsy fingers. “I mean, I’m just starting a conversation, but, y’know, if you want to call me sweet we can go with it.”

The reply comes faster than he thought anyone could type and for a moment he thinks it’s just squealing condensed into text form: “!!!!!!!!!O.M.GOSH i cant believe this is actually happening like holy crap is this actually just omg omg omg oMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” and he laughs at just how enthusiastic his soulmate is, but then there’s a break, a clean, neat, blank line. Beneath it, a very neat line of text reads “Hello, prjceless, my name is Connor McKinley. It looks like we’re soulmates.”

Kevin drops his phone.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please leave kudos/comment/message me at greerian.tumblr.com!
> 
> Btw, Connor's url is inspired by the "I am an atrocity to god, but thank you," text post. Kevin's is inspired by the tumblr user kevin-priceless.


End file.
